October 31st 1981
by FusionRose
Summary: ONESHOT MWPP. Four friends became a family and it took only one of them to bring them all down. A story of the night that Harry became a legend. Dedication to Angel


Just to let you all know I love the Marauders =]

I drew a picture of Sirius holding James' body after he had been killed

And whist looking at it this story came to mind xD

**Disclaimer**: I do now own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They belong to J.. I am not making any money or profits from this story.

**Dedication**: One of my closest buddies ever, Angel =D

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**October 31****st**** 1981**

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The dark mark glowed over the ruins of what was once the resident of his best friend and his best friend's family, taunting him. His fist clenched by his side and he couldn't help how much he was shaking.

This just couldn't be real, it couldn't be.

Smoke rose into the slightly chilled night air, ash was everywhere, on the ground, in the sky, in his hair and even clumped underneath his fingernails. How long he had been standing there, rooted to the spot, he had no idea. All he knew was that his legs didn't have the will to move, his gaze didn't have the will to wander away from the sight before him.

Had he even blinked since he got there? Was he even breathing? He just didn't know.

What he was aware of however, was that his biggest fear had become a reality and he was standing right in the middle of it.

He couldn't even focus on the concept of time, had he been standing there for minutes? Maybe hours? However long it had been, it just didn't matter to him now, because to be quite frank, he couldn't give a fucking toss about time anymore.

Sirius Black then finally started to walk, his legs moving on their own free will, leading him further into the remains of the potter residence. Fire rose high into the sky yet he couldn't feel the heat.

Maybe this was a nightmare though. Maybe he would wake up soon in the dorm room at Hogwarts covered in ice cold water and stare up at his best friend grinning like an idiot whilst holding an empty bucket and declaring;

"_Get up you lazy sod, the Quidditch match against Slytherin is today and I got some new moves to woe Evans."_

Then he would do his trademark bark-like laugh and get changed before waking up Remus and Peter and heading down towards Breakfast where the young Quidditch captain would continuously go on about how Gryffindor would come out Victorious like they always did.

But a stabbing pain in his chest told him this was real as his eyes found that what he had hoped to the high heavens he would never have to see.

Sirius ran over towards the fallen body on the floor and was quick to throw away the fallen debris covering it.

This couldn't be him, it just couldn't.

But as the last chunk of wood was thrown away from the body, Sirius Black received confirmation to the identity of the person below him. Clad in his favourite robes which were now singed and covered in ash, his black hair in the same style he always wore, untamed and out in all directions, his hazel eyes glazed over, looking lifeless.

James Arnold Potter, 22 years of age, husband to the girl of his dreams and father to a 1 year old boy who was the spitting image of him.

James Arnold Potter, member of the order of the phoenix, pledged to stop the dark lord and his followers.

James Arnold Potter, Sirius' best friend and the closest thing he ever had to family.

Sirius fell to his knees beside his fallen friend and lifted the boy's head with one hand while the other wiped the ash from his face.

"_What in the bloody hell are you doing?" Sirius asked the bespectacled boy on the floor whilst young Harry climbed on top of him. James didn't answer but a soft melodic voice did instead._

"_His favourite game with Harry is to play dead." Lily answered causing Sirius to turn around and stare at the red head whilst raising his eyebrow. She raised a fist to her mouth as she let out a little giggle. "Just watch." She stated pointing over towards her husband still sprawled out on the floor._

_Sirius turned back around to watch the Father and Son. Harry sported a very confused face as he tweaked James' nose and made a grab for his glasses._

"_Boo!" James shouted whilst raising his head and looking at his son who in turn went into a fit of giggles._

"Games over James, you can stop it now." Sirius uttered emotionlessly towards the pale man in front of him just waiting for the man to turn his head and shout 'Boo'.

James didn't move, but Sirius waited patiently not looking anywhere other than at his best friend laid in his arms.

"James, come on, it isn't funny anymore." The motor cyclist whined shaking the ex-chaser's shoulders.

James still didn't move.

Sirius started shaking again, feeling a knot in his throat making him unable to speak further. The raven haired man shook his head in reflex to get rid of the knot he felt but it was still there.

"Prongs-" his voice cracked as a large sob echoed in the night air. A tear escaped the man's eye but he simply tried to ignore it, still in denial to what had happened here only an hour earlier.

"I think I've finally able to settle down, you know." Sirius said, starting a conversation, the chaos forgotten. "Remember that girl from our year at Hogwarts, Michelle Rose? I got in contact with her again" He continued absent-mindedly rocking his friend's body backwards and forwards with his own. "So we started seeing each other, and you know what? I think I've fallen for her."

Silence was his only answer but Sirius still let out a little chuckle.

"I'm Serious." He laughed again, "Before you come out with that stupid pun of yours again, I do know my own name." Sirius' gaze finally left his friend's face and ventured up into the night sky. "That's right, I think I'm ready to settle down, be committed to one woman, have a family somewhat like your own." He smiled before shaking his head of any negative thoughts such as 'where are Lily and Harry anyway?'

"Of course, I had to have asked you first if I wanted to 'pop' the question. Couldn't obviously because 'you in hiding thing' but you're here now so what do you think? Should I ask her?"

Once again, not including the sound of burning debris, Silence was all he heard.

His vision of the stars became blurry suddenly as his eyes watered up and fell freely down his cheeks.

"God DAMN it Prongs, ANSWER ME!" He screamed looking back at James who still lay there, not moving, not speaking, and not breathing.

Sirius rose James' body upwards as his head crashed down into his chest as he cried nowhere near as much as he had cried before. Not even when he was disowned had he shed this amount of tears. He rubbed his cheeks against his friend's robes trying to wipe away the tears but they were only replaced by more and more.

"I'm sorry that…" Sirius started, his words muffled as his face was still laid against James' chest. "I'm sorry that I never said this but…" Sirius took a deep breath and finally moved his head away to look back into his friend's hazel eyes. "I love you… thanks for being there for me… through everything." The raven haired boy clenched his eyes together, getting rather irritated at the knot in his throat and how hard it made it for him to utter any sound. "You'll always be my best friend James, no one could ever replace you… and whoever done this…"

And that's when it hit him; it wasn't just that James had been murdered, but the fault laid blame on one of their own friends, one of the marauders.

"That rat will get what he deserves, don't you worry." Sirius then placed James back onto the floor, placing his jacket he had just taken off, under the man's head for comfort. "You just stay right here James, I'll be back in a minute." He explained whilst he stood up and took a step backwards.

A slight snap was heard, that only due to Sirius' keen sense of hearing was he able to hear. Being a dog-Animagus did have its advantages, that was for sure. He lifted his foot to find none other than James' glasses on the floor, snapped right in the middle between the two frames themselves. Sirius picked up the glasses and after expecting them, placed them in his pocket, promising himself to fix them very soon before James had a big hissy fit at him like he had done in 6th year when Sirius had stepped on his glasses before.

A cry then suddenly broke through the air and Sirius stiffened quickly. It was Harry, Harry was ok.

Faster than he had ever been known to run, Sirius quickly made his way into the direction of the baby's cries.

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He looked down upon his hands, though they had no trace of blood on them, he saw it. He scrubbed more furiously causing his hands to become red and sore.

Yet he didn't care, he deserved this.

"No sign of Wormtail?" he heard causing him to silently gasp and stop all actions at once. He silently sneaked his way over to the entrance of the public toilets and looked outside to see the owner of the voice. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the small Dagger that he kept for protection.

"No, and no sign of the Dark Lord either." The other said roughly. He knew who they were; Crabbe and Goyle, the two newest Death Eaters. Although the pair weren't the smartest couple of dark wizards, they were still dangerous. So he tightened his grip on the dagger and moved further back into the wall.

Luckily, the two continued down the street into the night. He sighed, luck slightly on his side. He decided it was not safe anymore and needed to get out of town as soon as he could so he walked out onto the street once he had deemed it safe, but to god wished he hadn't.

The green glow partially illuminated the sky and his eyes darted to his right where he saw the eerie Dark mark, right above the Potter's household.

He fell to the ground, any thoughts of leaving quickly out of town escaping him.

Ever since that first day at Hogwarts, he tried to prove to everyone that he had been placed in Gryffindor for a reason. But mostly, he tried to prove it to himself.

That's why he looked up to James, James was loyal and brave, smart and funny and had such amazing social skills that everyone was bewitched by his charm sooner or later. On leaving the school he believed he been the same, he believed himself to be all of those things, brave and loyal.

He got himself his own place, got a job at the ministry for magic as a secretary in the Magical Creatures department, which had been his favourite subject. Started dating a few girls here and there, help from Sirius of course.

But then that's when the letters started sending, when he sensed he was being followed. At first he tried to ignore it, but then it became more frequent, more unavoidable.

Every night for five months he was awoken, from wherever he was, screamed at and tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. They told him, it didn't have to be that way, it could stop, if he only joined the causes of Lord Voldemort.

And then he realised that he wasn't as loyal as he though and definitely not as Brave, he just couldn't stand the pain anymore. So he joined them.

Did he regret it? That was a definite. Did he try and escape from the Dark Lord's clutches? Yes, but when he witnessed what they did to Regulus Black first hand after his 'Escape Attempt' all plans for his own attempt went out the window. He was smacked with the reality once again how cowardly he really was.

Sobs escaped his body and tears sprung out of his eyes.

The prophecy, that stupid god damn fucking prophecy. That's what did this, that's what made the dark lord force him to sell out his own closest friend.

But while people stand and say proudly how they would rather there own life be taken then a friend's, the sad matter of the truth is that only 5% of those people would. Most people do not have that strength and the will for it.

It's easy to say you'd push someone away from a moving car and be hit yourself to save them, but in that type of situation, whoever that person is, you will most likely freeze on the spot while you watch them get hit themselves.

So was he a bad man? No, he just didn't have that strength and will. He was just a human being. His wishes to be loyal and brave like his friends, never came true.

"I'm sorry James." Peter cried into the night air. "I'll never understand why I was put in Gryffindor."

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"Professor -"

"There's no time to explain, hurry." Professor Dumbledore shouted to the brunette as he drew out his wand and quickly made his way further into the town. He wrapped his arms around himself, only clad in pajama bottoms.

What was happening? He didn't understand. His old Headmaster just simply apparated into his home whilst he was getting ready to go to bed, grabbed him by the arm and apparated him here.

A drop of rain fell onto the tip of his nose causing him to look up as the weather picked up and a heavy shower quickly formed.

Usually he would be very against standing out in the rain, afraid for his health. But he stood there transfixed as he looked up into the face of the Dark Mark.

And somehow from just seeing that, Remus knew what had happened.

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He looked right and left, in desperate need of escape. Muggles surrounded him staring in confusion at the young man looking lost in weather like this and at this sort of time. The mark must have brought them out of their homes causing their curious little minds to wander what had happened.

"I'm going to kill you Peter!" a voice shouted from behind him, causing the mousy-haired male to remember why and who he was running away from in the first place.

Fear plagued his heart, fear for his own life as he made to run down the street again. However Luck decided to do a U-Turn for him now as he tripped onto the stone cobble and his Dagger jumped out of his hand.

It happened in slow motion really, the blade turned in mid-air slowly before it came down right onto his finger, cutting it clear off. The shrieking scream only lasted seconds before a hand grabbed the front of his collar, turning him around and raising him slightly off the ground.

Sirius' cold grey eyes, that had been full of wonder and laughter last time he had seen them at Harry's first birthday, now bore holes into his own. He also couldn't help but notice the tears leaking from his eyes as well. Sirius' wand was pointed at his throat and Peter couldn't help but shake uncontrollably.

"Who knew that one of the marauders would turn out a Traitor." Sirius croaked silently as he stared into the face of one of the three people who became his family.

And then Peter showed his cowardly face yet again as he feared for his own life.

"HOW COULD YOU BETRAY JAMES AND LILY, SIRIUS. HOW COULD YOU!?" He screamed at the top of his voice whilst he sneakily slipped out his own wand.

And he done it again, he showed that he valued his own life more than others. It wasn't as Selfish as it was Realistic. At least he knew who he was now. How he had thought up this plan you wander? You forget, he's a marauder, they are natural at this sort of thing. And he was glad to think up the plan, since the only other means of escape he could have done was to use the killing curse.

But he wouldn't. Peter Louis Pettigrew wouldn't cause the death of another best friend that night.

It had happened much too fast for his mind to comprehend. Flames erupted from nearby buildings as around a dozen muggles lay around Sirius dead.

But Peter was nowhere to be found.

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Hagrid looked down at the bundle in his arms whilst he made his way towards Surrey, which was just south of London.

"_H-Hagrid… take these with you as well" Sirius said as the half-giant sat on the motor cycle with Harry tucked inside his jacket. Hagrid held out his hand and took a pair of glasses from the young order member. "They were James'… But I think they are going to need a bit of repair." He finished as he walked away from the ruins of the potter's residence. _

"_Hey lad where ya goin'?" Hagrid called after him worried slightly for the wizard's sanity._

"_To take care of a rat."_

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"Stop." A voice spoke out causing Sirius to stop struggling with the Aurors and look up into the eyes of the fourth member of his pack.

"Remus…" Sirius sighed out in relief, a big grin forming on his face giving off his youthful appearance that many had fallen for. "Remus, tell them I'm innocent, please."

Remus shook his head in disbelief, he wished it wasn't true, he wished.

"How could you?"

"No! Remus, you have to believe me, it wasn't me!" Sirius cried, now panicked. One brother, dead, another, a traitor, Remus was all he had left. "Please Remus, please, just know the truth."

"Who in the hell was it then Sirius?" Remus cried out, a single tear sliding down his cheek unnoticed by everyone except Sirius.

"Moony…"

"You were a marauder! You were part of our pack, our family! You were the secret keeper! You betrayed them! Lily! James! You even killed Peter!" Remus continued closing the gap between the two whilst the two Aurors still held tightly to Sirius' arms making sure he wouldn't move.

Remus didn't believe him, but why would he? They hadn't told him anything of their plans, believing Remus, himself was the traitor. Oh, how wrong they all were.

The brunette clenched his fist and brought it back causing Sirius to feel an overwhelming sense of Déjà vu.

_Remus clenched his fist and brought it back causing Sirius to shut his eyes waiting for the blow as James and Peter held his arms not allowing him to escape._

_Yet it never came._

_Sirius opened his eyes slightly looking back at his friend who was slowly lowering his arm. To say that the animagus was confused was most definitely an understatement._

_Sirius had thought it clever to inform Snape of where Remus goes every month in hope that Remus, in his transformed state, would rip the Slytherin apart. Yet when Sirius boasted to James, he went running and saved Snape from certain death. Sirius had done it in rage, he had never thought through the consequences, how Remus would have gotten expelled, probably sink down into depression from having killed another human being. How Sirius would have also been responsible for the death of someone, how he would have been just like his own deatheater-infested family._

"_Remus aren't you going to hit me?" he asked looking up into the brunette's honey coloured eyes which were downcast in thought._

"_No." he simply said "No matter what, I could never hit a best friend."_

As Remus' fist made an impact with Sirius' check, the latter realised that this wasn't like his flashback as he saw his own blood splatter onto the pavement caused by the blow to his face.

Being a werewolf, made you quite powerful like that.

"I thought you didn't hit best friends." Sirius said after a long moment of silence, not able to look up at his friend anymore, not able to look at the betrayal in one of his best friend's eyes, not strong enough to look at him when he knew already what the reply would be.

"I never have." Remus simply answered, his fist unclenching as he took a few steps backwards. "Thanks to you, all my best friends are dead. Everyone who ever cared for me and treated me like a person is dead."

"I'm still -"

"Don't you dare finish that Sentence!" Remus screamed at him, feeling his fist clench up again but ignoring it. "Four of my friends died tonight, i don't even know who you are. I hope you rot to death, you lowly scum. I really couldn't believe you had actually done this." Remus whispered the last part before turning around and walking back from where he had came.

But not before he said the thing that would always echo in Sirius' head whilst he spent his time in Azkaban.

"You're just another Black now."

And then his last brother, walked away from him, refusing to look back and refusing to believe the truth.

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Oh dear god I'm tired -_-

Please review, this took me bloody ages


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